Mayor Eric Adams Has Expensive Taste in Lawyers. So Who's Paying?
Big Law partners don't come cheap but Quinn Emanuel's Alex Spiro is practically giving it away. What's the thinking behind that?
IF YOU’RE A NEW YORKER like me who pays royally for the privilege of living in the most fabulous hellhole on earth, you’re probably thinking: Who’s paying for Mayor Eric Adam’s escalating legal bills? Gosh, I hope it’s not me.
As you know, the mayor is in deep doo-doo. The feds recently indicted him on five felony counts. Among other charges, Adams allegedly pressured the NYC fire department to relax safety standards at Turkey’s new consular building in Midtown in exchange for business class tickets on Turkish Airlines. (Not to quibble, but that strikes me as a poor deal. May I suggest bargaining for gold bullion and a Mercedes next round?)
Even before his indictment, Adams enlisted big legal guns for his defense, including Quinn Emanuel partner Alex Spiro and WilmerHale partners Boyd Johnson and Brendan MacGuire. And just a few days ago, three more prominent Quinn partners joined the team: co-managing partner Bill Burck, former U.S. attorney John Bash III, and securities litigation co-chair Avi Perry. All are experienced prosecutors, and none of them come cheap. (For context, keep in mind some senior partners in Big Law are billing close to $3,000 an hour.)
So here’s the nagging question: how can the mayor, who makes $258,750 a year, possibly afford these hot shots?
Adams can’t stick it to taxpayers like Cuomo. The good news is that taxpayers are not on the hook for Adams’s legal fees in the federal indictment. As a city employee, Adams doesn’t enjoy the benefit of Public Officers Law 19, which authorizes the payment of legal expenses of state officials facing criminal charges, provided they’re ultimately cleared. So while former New York governor Andrew Cuomo can run up a huge legal tab (over $25 million thus far)—and stick it to taxpayers—to defend his sexual harassment charges, Adams is on his own.
Well, maybe not entirely on his own.
In November, facing corruption investigations, Adams set up a legal defense fund that has raised well over $1 million. (As of May, the fund paid $877,900 to WilmerHale.) Though the fund initially attracted a who’s who list of donors—including Mike Bloomberg, cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce, and various fashion and finance luminaries—it’s likely donors will be scared off, now that the details of the indictment are out.
Top litigators for only $250/hour? Sign me up! And here’s where Quinn Emanuel comes to the rescue. What’s amazing is that the firm is providing legal services to Adams at the bargain basement rate of $250 an hour—almost one-tenth of what the firm bills its senior partners.
For anyone who’s unfamiliar with Big Law, let me tell you that’s an insane rate. How can a profit-making venture afford to devote substantial time and resources to a client who’s essentially a freeloader when there are deep pocket clients to serve? (I’ve asked Spiro and Quinn Emanuel for comment but have not heard back.)
Alas, I’m missing the point. “There is a long line of lawyers who would represent the mayor for free or at a greatly reduced rate,” a prominent white collar lawyer tells me. And we’re talking about some very well-established criminal defense lawyers.
Indeed, what faster way to gain fame and glory than representing the mayor of the most important city on earth for corruption and bribery?
The celebrity lawyer as celebrity. By all accounts a very talented lawyer, Spiro, 41, is a top rainmaker at Quinn, so he can presumably do what he wants. He’s also a master at cultivating high profile clients (they include Elon Musk, Alec Baldwin, Jay-Z, and Mick Jagger) who've put him on the map. But representing Adams seems to be catapulting him to a whole other level. I mean, how many profiles have we seen about him since Adams’s indictment?
Spiro is sure working it. He’s held press conferences and issued statements in which he colorfully slammed the prosecution. “This isn’t even a real case,” he sniffed before the cameras, calling it, “the airline upgrade corruption case.” He accused prosecutors of creating a “dog and pony show” and being publicity seekers who are “spinning in front of the cameras and tainting jurors.” He’s also filed for sanctions against the prosecution, arguing that federal prosecutors showed "appalling disregard" for Adams's rights.
Of course, Spiro is grandstanding himself. But whatever. Some defense lawyers involved in high profile cases assiduously avoid the spotlight but that is not Spiro’s style. He’s hitching his star to Adams and betting big that being the face of the defense in this sensational case will soar his career to new heights.
Is all publicity good publicity for a lawyer? But are there downsides to this strategy? “A high profile case can raise your profile, but under the bright lights it can have a negative impact by exposing your weakness,” warns the prominent white collar lawyer I spoke with.
Clearly, that’s a risk that Spiro and Quinn Emanuel are more than willing to take. Maybe they’re supremely confident. Maybe they’re making so much money (the profit per partner at Quinn exceeds $5 million a year) that they can gamble on a money losing proposition with an uncertain upside.
And that means Adams will get some of the best legal representation money can buy—except he doesn’t have to shell out all that much. Yes, notoriety has its privileges. Who says Big Law doesn’t do enough pro bono?
Contact: chen.vivia@gmail.com
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